Amid the beating of drums and chants of ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’, various Ganesh mandals in Mumbai on Thursday started processions to immerse the idols of the deity, marking the culmination of the 10-day festival. By 6pm, a total of 7,950 idols had been immersed, comprising 7,513 household ones, 329 ‘sarvajanik’ or public idols and 108 of goddess Gauri, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said.

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis visited Girgaon Chowpatty for Ganesh ‘visarjan’.

A 20-year-old man went missing after he entered the Netravati river in Maharashtra’s Nashik district during the immersion of a Ganesh idol, an official said.

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), as many as 1,65,964 idols, including several household idols, ‘sarvajanik’ (public) ones and idols of Goddess Gauri, were immersed in various water bodies here including artificial ponds till the seventh day of the festival.

Today is the last day for immersion and Mumbai Police has made proper arrangements for it.

Around 11,000 traffic police officers, home guards, traffic wardens, civil defence personnel, NSS and Road Safety Patrol volunteers will be deployed for managing crowds during immersion.

Traffic police have also curbed the movement of heavy vehicles and private buses on south Mumbai roads from 10am on Friday to 6am on Saturday. These vehicles will not be allowed to park on the road.

Avoid dancing and refrain from using loudspeakers on 13 ‘old and dangerous’ road over-bridges (ROBs) in the city when taking Ganpati idols for immersion on Thursday, Mumbai Traffic Police cautioned revellers.

The city traffic police announced Wednesday that on Anant Chaturdashi, 93 city roads will be kept shut — 24 in south Mumbai, 32 in central suburbs, 27 in eastern suburbs, and 10 in the western suburbs.